Proper disposal of medical waste is required for health care facilities, such as hospitals, medical practices, veterinary offices, and/or other similar facilities. Thus, typical health care facilities employ one or more of the following methods for medical waste disposal: on-site incineration (although use is continually declining due to regulatory and/or environmental pressures), on-site steam auto-claving and later shipment to a landfill, off-site treatment including, but not limited to chemical treatment, steam auto-claving and microwave treatment, and/or combinations thereof.
Problems associated with conventional medical waste disposal, much like the disposal of solid wastes in general, are becoming increasingly acute. For example, although on-site incineration and/or on-site steam auto-claving can decontaminate medical waste effectively, the processes can be complex, time-consuming, and expensive. In addition, many conventional disinfecting systems are not automated and may cause potential hazardous conditions to personnel handling the medical waste. Further, many health care facilities have been forced to turn to off-site companies to supply storage bins for future pickup and eventual disinfection prior to disposal at a landfill. Such off-site disposal can lead to problems, such as potential spills, accidents, and/or an increase in liability exposure during handling and shipment.
The October 2014 Ebola breakout/scare in Dallas, Tex., where days' worth of Ebola-contaminated medical waste was stored in a separate isolation room without any means of elimination, is one example that illuminates medical waste disposal concerns. Current off-site disinfection services have not put into place contingencies for such potential pandemics. Further, off-site disinfection may introduce dangerous contaminants from isolation into a greater population and may also bring such contaminants into settings (e.g. health clinics) that are neither prepared nor equipped to combat such health issues.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system and method that addresses the aforementioned issues. More specifically, a system and method for disinfecting medical waste on-site at a medical facility that utilizes infrared heating and at least one additional heating source would be advantageous.